June 23rd 2023 Random Ramblings

The landlords' repair guy I mentioned last week came near the start of the time slot he gave us, and he wasn’t here long, so he had been and gone by the time last week’s post actually went live, but not with enough time for me to come in and edit the post.

 

It turned out one of the issues we could have dealt with if we’d known what to look for: we thought the heater in my craft room/office wasn’t working.  But it turned out it was only turned off (though why it was turned off we have no idea).  But, hey, the person doing the inspection on behalf of the landlord didn't figure it out either, so at least it wasn't just us.

 

We hadn’t noticed that it wasn't working before this past Winter, because it was more a storage space than a functioning room for most of the first two years we were here, but I definitely noticed this past Winter when I was in there regularly.  All Winter I’d been making do without it, making use of blankets whenever it got cold enough in there that I needed to do something to keep warm while working in my room, and learning it was for nothing was both funny and frustrating – especially frustrating.

 

I’d checked, and thought I’d found and tried all the knobs that controlled whether it’s on and how high.  Apparently I’d missed one I didn’t know to look for, because it was on the opposite side to the rest, and not so easily spotted.  Now that one is turned to the “on” position, my heater works.  Not that I need it right now, since it’s been pretty hot most days (though thankfully cooled down a bit after we had some rainstorms at the start of the week).  But at least I’ll be able to make use of it when the cold weather comes this Winter.

 

*~*

 

My Mam came out of hospital Friday evening.

 

They had things to the point where there wasn’t really anything they could do at the hospital that couldn’t be done either at home or via outpatient appointments, so didn’t see the point in keeping her in the hospital any longer.  I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how happy she was to get to go home, even if she does need people coming in every day to help her do things she can no longer manage for herself, which I know she finds frustrating.

 

Hopefully she won’t end up back in hospital again any time soon.

 

~

 

Because of my Mam's health, and what an energetic pup he is, it was decided that Cai should be re homed.  So, the woman who had been taking care of him while Mam was in hospital this second time has him.  She's a friend of a friend.  The woman was given the option of keeping Cai, or us re homing him elsewhere, and she decided to keep him.  I hope he gives her many happy years of companionship.

 

Izabel went back to my Mam though, since Izi is more manageable.  She was picked up on Saturday, shortly before lunch time, by one of the people currently helping my Mam.  Izi was very happy to see her Mami again.

 

I think Lilie kind of misses Izi, since the two of them were becoming great friends.  But Logan is definitely glad Izi has gone home.  I'm sure he's glad not to have her joining forces with Lilie to gang up on him.  Plus, he shares my feelings about keeping socializing to smaller groups as much as possible.  He did a sort of doggy happy dance when she left, and then stretched out on the bed for a long nap.  LOL!

 

*~*

 

Lilie and Logan have a vet appointment on Monday (June 26^th) at 3:45pm and 4:00pm respectively.  Don’t worry.  It should just be a smooth routine visit; it’s time for their annual shots and health checks, that’s all.

 

Normally we’d get a ride from one of my parents, or pay for a taxi, but with neither of them driving right now for various reasons, we’re trying a new transport scheme for disabled and low income people that’s recently started up around here, which will be a lot cheaper than the taxi would have been (which is one of the main points of having the scheme, the other being help with transport for disabled and elderly people).

 

I like the fact it's an option for more than just those of us with disabilities, since most places with schemes like this will only take people who don't come under the disabled or elderly labels if they happen to be traveling with someone who does.

 

It sounds like a great scheme, so I hope it’s as good as it sounds, since it will come in handy for us a lot if it is.

 

It should be fine though, since it was recommended by my Aunt Bev (who mans their phones sometimes, was the person who gave my Dad the number to give to us, and also happened to be the person who answered the phone to me when I called to learn more about it) as well as a family friend named Laura who I’ve known since childhood (who is related to the guy who runs it).  Ah, the joys of living in a relatively rural village where it seems like everyone either knows or is related somehow to everyone else.  LOL!

 

*~*

 

My spoon reserves are still pretty low from the events of the past couple of months, but I did manage to get some rest time in during the past couple of days, which helped a little.  Just as well really, since I’m one of the people who have been chosen to host for the virtual parts of the ACB’s 2023 convention, starting with the virtual only portion that’s currently going on, and continuing throughout the first week of July with the hybrid convention.

 

So, if I’m slow replying to comments, visiting blogs, etc, it’s because I’ll be resting when I can between hosting assignments, since I’m pretty sure I’ll need to if I’m going to  make sure I have the energy to do them well.

Of #Tortoises & #Dogs, Workmen, And Virtual Parties

The photos at the top of this post are of when Artemis and Izi met face to face when Arti was out of the vivarium on Wednesday.  In the first one they're looking at each other up close, and in the second one they're nose to nose.

 

For those who might be worried: yes, this meeting was strictly supervised.  The dogs are never left in the room alone with Artemis.  In fact, I think you can see me a little in the photo.  Actually, Artemis is always supervised when out of the vivarium regardless of where the dogs are, just to be on the safe side.

 

Anyway, neither Izabel nor Artemis are sure what to make of each other at the moment.

 

As you may have figured out from how I'm starting this post - or may have seen in my reply to a comment on last week's post yesterday - yes, we still have Izabel here right now, because Mam is still not in a position to take her back.  Cai is still with someone else though.

 

Lilie and Izi are becoming great friends, but they keep ganging up on Logan – who would mostly rather nap than play, and tires of playing quickly when he does play – and he’s not happy about it, as I’m sure you can imagine.  So, a couple of times this past week, I took advantage of the nice weather and took just him out in the yard for a while, leaving both girls indoors with Kelly, and I sat on the swing seat while he alternated between sitting beside me and pouncing on unsuspecting rocks.  Plus, Kelly took just the girls for walks a couple of times, so they could burn off some energy while Logan got some peace.  Logan definitely seemed glad of the breaks.  And I’m sure Lilie and Izi enjoyed having some walks at a faster pace than walks usually are if Logan and I go too (Logan and I just like to slowly plod along; Logan and I don't do fast-paced walks... My leg can't handle it, and Logan's just not an energetic sort of dog).

 

With the issues Lilie has with her legs, as well as the fact she’s older than Izi and Logan (Lilie is six, Izi is four and a half, and Logan is four) you’d think Lilie would be the one who walks slowly and wants to be left alone.  But, no.  Lilie’s very energetic, and almost always up for some play time, even at times when you can see her issues with her back legs are causing her some pain.  We try not to let her get too carried away with pushing herself, but she’s happy and waggy-tailed while doing it, so... *shrugs*

 

~

 

As I said, we've been having really nice weather.  It's warm enough to be nice for sitting outside without the need for a jacket, and Kelly doesn't complain about my desire to keep the window open even at night (which I'd do most of the year, but he wishes I wouldn't do in colder weather) but not so hot I'm whining about it yet.  Still hovering around the 20C (72F) range in the day, and dropping a little at night.

 

*~*

 

Just to make things even more fun – and I use the word “fun” with a heavy dose of sarcasm – the landlord (or the agency we rent through, or maybe both) decided now was a good time to do the repair work we’ve been asking them to do since we showed it to them when they did the inspection back in March.

 

Technically, it was a good time to do it.  I mean, the nice weather means the damp patches have had time to dry, it’s a good time to need to have all the windows open, and the stuff they put on to treat the damp, as well as the fresh coat of paint needed on those walls, could dry quickly with the nice weather.  It just wasn’t fun for me being shut in a room with three dogs who had a few things to say about strange men in the house for the bulk of the two days the work was being done, and I could have done without that experience right now.  Logan wasn't happy about it either, since it was even harder than normal for him to get away from the girls during those two days.

 

On the bright side, they did work hard to get it done in two days, and even not only moved things themselves to get to where they needed to work, but tried their best to put them back properly.  We’ll still have to go behind them and sort them a bit better, but I appreciate that they tried, and am definitely glad the work has now been done, even if I have to admit to some frustration at needing to re-do some of the organization we’d literally just finished doing in some of the rooms.  Not to mention, the frustration of trying to do the cooking call on Tuesday while surrounded by barking dogs.

 

*~*

 

Last Friday there was a virtual Zoom birthday party for Kaila.  Her husband, Jimmy, organized it as a surprise for her.  Kaila’s the one in charge of the ACB Crafters (sort of the boss of the ACB Crafters admin team, which I’m part of) and I consider her a friend, so I wanted to go.  The party was at midnight my time because of the time difference, and I’m not a big fan of parties as a rule, but since it was online – and since I happen to really like Kaila – I went anyhow.  I know it made Kaila happy to have so many of her friends there to help her celebrate her birthday, even if we could only be there virtually.

 

Of course, I wanted cheesecake after Kaila said it was what she was having as a birthday cake, so on Saturday – after a long chat with Carl, since we hadn’t spoken much since Easter – I decided to try one of the recipes I had for a tofu-based one that requires baking.  I was making some adjustments because I wanted to turn the blueberry cheesecake in to a lemon one (mostly because I didn’t have any blueberries) but I didn’t add enough extra lemon juice, so it came out more vanilla than lemon.  It was definitely cheesecake consistency though, and it tasted good, so that’s the main thing.  Sorry, but I didn’t take a photo.

 

~

 

Speaking of birthdays...

 

It was my Grandma’s birthday on Wednesday (June 7^th) and it’s Kelly’s Mom’s birthday today (June 9^th).

 

Grandma sometimes reads my blog, but I’m pretty sure Kelly’s Mom doesn’t.  Still, happy birthday, Grandma, and Mom!

 

And, though I doubt she'll see this: happy birthday to Kaila too.

 

~

 

I went to another virtual party during the past week too: the ACB Crafters third birthday bash.

 

The ACB Crafters started as the occasional call on the ACB Community on June 7^th 2020.

 

For those who don’t know: “ACB” stands for American Council of the Blind.  They started doing community calls as a way for visually impaired people to connect with others during the pandemic, and it’s exploded in to a huge community.  The ACB Crafters – which I’m part of the admin team for – is part of that community, and went from the occasional Zoom call to between three and seven calls a week.

 

So, to celebrate three years of crafty calls, we held a virtual birthday party this past Wednesday, (June 7^th).  I don’t usually go to the crafty call that happens on Wednesdays, but I went this time, since it was the birthday bash.

  

That means I went to more parties this past week than I usually go to in a year.  I'm glad they were virtual though.  I like virtual parties more than ones in person.  I'm not a big social gatherings and parties fan.